Side wall construction for railway freight cars



C. R. JONES May 18, 1954 SIDE WALL CONSTRUCTION FOR RAILWAY FREIGHT CARS Filed March 22. 1950 2 Sheets-Sheet l vvA/Toe- CZHEENCE E. JONES M y 8, 1954 R c. R. JONES 2,678,612

SIDE WALL CONSTRUCTION FOR RAILWAY FREIGHT CARS Filed March 22, 1950 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 III/ 57,4! 'III II;

-//vvA/T'a/e CL Q/EENCE E. JONES M/QW Patented May 18, 1954 UNITED STATES PATENT or-Free CONSTRUCTION IFOR .BAILWA'Y FREIGHT CARS Clarence R. Jones, Youngstown, Ohio, "assignor to The Youngstown Steel Door Company, Glevelanmoliio; a corporationof Ohio Application March 22, 1950, SeriaI No. 151,209

2Glaims. 1

invention relates inside wall constructions for railwayfreight cars.

It is an object of this invention'to, provide side wall constructions for railway freight cars which shall permit the use of standard brackets for securing them to the car underframes and also make possible cars of maximum inside width which shall meet the requirements of theAmerican Associationof Railroads in regard to overall width of cars.

A further object is to provide side wall con.- structions for railway freight cars which shall permit the securement of maximum inside width of 'cars and embody posts of less than normal depth adapted to be secured to the car underframes by standard brackets.

Afurther object is toprovide side wall constructions of the character indicated particularly adapted for the conversion of wood sheathed box cars and steel sheathed box cars of relatively narrow inside width into modern steel cars of maximum inside width which shall not encroach upon the tunnel clearance prescribed. by the American Association of Railroads.

A further object is to provide side wall constructions of the character indioated'which shall permitthe use of lining boards of substantially standard thickness without altering the boards.

A further object is to provide side wall constructions for railway freight cars which shall embody posts of less than normal depth adapted to be secured to the car underframes by brackets having post engaging flanges of minimum width to which the engaged portions of the post could not normally be secured.

'Other objects of the inventionwill become clear as the description thereof proceeds.

Inthe drawings forming part of this specification:

Fig..1'is an elevation of a portion of a side wall construction for railway freight cars embodying the instant invention, parts being broken away.

.Fig. 2 isa horizontal section taken on line 22 ofFig. 1. i

Fig. 31s a vertical section taken online .3"3 ofFig. 1.

Fig. 4 is a vertical section taken on'line 4- 4 of Fig. 3.

Referring to the drawings wherein a preferred embodiment of the invention is illustrated the reference numeral Ill illustrates a side plate of the carside construction. The side plate IE1 is of well knownconstructionand embodies a generally Z-shaped section, which extends substantially from end to end of the .side wall, having an upper flange H of the same slope as the car roof (not shown) secured to the side plate, a vertical flange l2, a substantially horizontal web l3 and a depending vertical flange M. The side wall construction also embodies door posts one .tion illustrated.

of which .is shown at 15, a pluralityto'f intermediateposts. such as shown at 16 and vendpos'ts one of which is illustrated at IT, these gposts,

as is clearly illustrated in Fig.1 of thedrawings, having their upper ends securedas by.means of riveting to the depending flange Hi of the side plate. Fig. 1 illustrates a portion or the side wallconstruction of the instant invention which extends substantially from a door .post. to the adjacent end of the construction. It .willbe understood by those skilled in the art that the side wall construction embodiesthe door opening l8 and structure extending therefrom .tothe opposite end of the side wall which is similarlin construction and complementary to the construc- It will also be apparent to those skilled in the art that the side wall construction for the opposite side of the freight car shown will be substantially the same as thatillustrated and indicated above.

As is shown more clearly in Figs. '22 and.3 of the drawings the posts of the side wall construc-' tion are offset outwardly from the side sill l9of the car under'frame, this side sill being the existing side sill of the .underframe where the sidewall construction is utilized in the conversionof wood sheathed box cars and steel sheathed box cars of relatively narrow width. The'lower end of the door post I5 is secured .tothe side sill 'l9'"'by means of angle members 20 and 2| secured to the opposite faces of the inwardly extending flange 22 of the door post. The securement of the angle members 20 and 2] to the .sidesill 19 as by meansof rivets 23 and 24 is showninFigL of the drawings. The intermediate post I6 is secured to the side sill I9 by means of a standard structural bracket 25 clearly "illustratedin Figsfii and 4 of the .drawings and forming the subject matter of the patent to Ditchfield, No.2;201,'82'6, granted'May 21, 1940, to which reference ishereby made.

The. gap between theposts and the side sill-of the car underframe which results from the .outwardspacing of the posts relatlvefto the .sidesill 1 is .closed by 'asubstantially .Z-shaped member 2ii which extends from each Idoor post to subs'tantially the adjacent end of the car. [The tained by means of flanges 3| and 32 "of the bracket which extend upwardly .throughthe web 29 .of themember 26 and .lie on opposite sides posts and .are secured thereto -as by .;means .;of

' .riVetsQB lLandAB. .Theiliianges .31 .and..32;.are-;oi

Inin'irhum Width. "Metallic sheathing36 'is "Se cured to the depending flange M of the side plate and to the outer faces of the intermediate and door posts and the upstanding flange 21 of the bottom member.

In side wall construction for railway freight cars the depth of the intermediate posts commonly used is 3 inches. Where posts of this width are employed the clear inside width of the car is approximately 9 feet 2 inches. By utilizing the instant invention, however, a clear and effective inside width of freight cars of the box car type of 9 feet 6 inches may be obtained and the standard brackets disclosed in the Ditchfield patent utilized without modification thereof. To this end the instant invention utilizes intermediate posts such as post it which is less in depth than the depth of the standard intermediate posts. In the preferred embodiment of applicants invention the depth of the intermediate post it is substantially 2% inches and its construction is such that it permits the use 'of standard structural brackets, makes possible the securement of an effective inside width of 9 feet 6 inches and permits the utilization of inside lining boards of substantially standard 1% inch thickness.

As shown in Figs. 2 to e, inclusive'of the drawings, the intermediate post it is substantially Z- shaped in section for a major portion of its length. The post embodies an outer flange 31 to which the metallic sheathing 35 is secured as by means of rivets an inwardly extending flange 39 and an inner flange 4t parallel to the outer flange 3?. The outer flange 37 continues to the lower edge of the post which terminates above the, web 29 of the .member 26. The inner flange 40, however, terminates above the lower edge of the post as indicated at 4!. A portion of this flange as shownat 42 is removed and the remaining portion 43 thereof is bent inwardly as indicated at M in order to provide an extension of the inwardly extending flange 39 at the lower end of the post. 'By this construction the depth of the lower end of the post is increased so as to provide additional strength therefor and permitthe attachment of the bracket flanges 3| and 32 to the lower end of the post by means of the. rivets 34 and 35. The extension 44, as is clearly shown in Fig. 3 of the drawings, lies outwardly of the inner face of the lining 45 which is of substantially standard thickness and terminates above the extension 44.

, In addition to its securement to the side sill I9 by means of the angle members 20 and 2| the door post it is secured to the member 26 by means of the bracket 4i; and gusset 47 as clearly shown in Fig. l of the drawings.

It will be apparent that numerous changes and modifications in the, details of the invention will be clear to those skilled in the art. It is intended, therefore, that all such modifications and changes he comprehended within this invention which is to be limited only by the scope of the claims appended hereto.

I claim:

' 1. Side wall construction for a railway freight car comprising a side plate, intermediate and door posts secured at their upper ends to said side plate, said intermediate posts having a portion of major length substantially Z-shaped in cross section and a lower end portion substantially L-shaped in cross section, the Web of said Z shaped portion being of less depth than the depth of standard intermediate posts and embodying innerand outer flanges parallel to said 4 side wall construction, said lower end portions having an outer inwardly offset flange parallel to said side wall construction and an inwardly extending flange at right angles thereto, a lining of substantially standard thickness secured against said inner flanges of said intermediate posts and terminating at its bottom above said lower end portions, an angular member having an upstanding flange disposed in said offsets and secured to said intermediate posts, said member extending inwardly below said intermediate posts for securement to the underframe of said car, metallic sheathing secured to said side plate and outer faces of said posts and upstanding flange, and standard brackets adapted to secure said intermediate posts to said car underframe, said brackets embodying flanges extending upwardly through said angular member and secured to said inwardly extending flanges, said latter flanges extending inwardly beyond said inner flanges of said posts and terminatin outwardly of the inner face of said lining, the inner edge of said bracket flanges also terminating outwardly of the inner face of said lining, said bracket flanges being wider than the distance between said flanges of said Z-shaped portion of said intermediate posts.

2. Side wall construction for a railway freight car comprising a side plate, intermediate and door posts secured at their upper ends to said side plate, intermediate posts being formed and having a portion substantially Z-shaped in cross section and of less depth than the depth of standard intermediate posts, said portion embodying inner and outer flanges parallel to said side wall construction and a web at right angles thereto, a section of the lower portion of said inner flanges being removed and the remainder thereof being bent inwardly to form an extension of said web of said Z-shaped portion and provide a lower end which is, L-shaped in cross section and embodies said extended web and said outer flange of said Z-shaped portion, said latter flange being offset inwardly, a lining of substantially standard thickness secured against said inner flanges of said intermediate posts and terminating above said lower ends, an angular member having an upstanding flange disposed in said offsets and secured to said intermediate posts, said member extending inwardly below said intermediate posts for securement to the underframe of said car, metallic sheathing secured to said side plate and outer faces of said posts and upstanding flange, and standard brackets adapted to secure said intermediate posts to said car underframe, said brackets embodying flanges extending upwardly through said angular member and secured to said extended webs, the inner edge of said extended webs terminating outwardly of the inner face of said lining, the inner edge of said bracket flanges also terminating out-, wardly of the inner face of said lining, said bracket flanges being wider than the distance between said flanges of said Z-shaped portion of said intermediate posts.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS Ditchfield July 28, i942; 

